Everyone overeats at some point. It could be an extra helping at dinner or sampling every dessert at a wedding or eating for comfort after a tough day. Others set a New Year’s resolution to lose weight but they start, stop and never really let a new eating program take hold. All of these behaviors…
Addiction is a complicated disease. We now know, for instance, that sugar is addictive. It seems like an innocent enough substance. It just sweetens our food, after all. But it turns out that sugar activates the same reward and pleasure centers in the brain that drugs like cocaine do. It can lead to binging sessions,…
Women with a history of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are more likely to meet certain criteria for food addiction, according to a new study from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. The results of the study were published Sept. 17 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
More than 300 therapists and mental and behavioral health clinicians gathered in downtown Atlanta last week (Oct 9-12) for four days of training in process addictions and related issues as part of the sixth annual Summit for Clinical Excellence conference, a clinical education event organized by the Ben Franklin Institute (BFI) and co-hosted by Promises…
The rates of obesity in adults and children in the U.S. have doubled since the 1970s, and it’s considered one of the leading public health problems in the country. We have a strange relationship with food: on one hand, we need it to survive; but, for some individuals, it can be the subject of one…
Promises Behavioral Health is hosting a series of symposia exploring the relationship of early complex trauma to intimacy, eating disorders and addiction on July 18 in Philadelphia, Penn., on July 25 in Columbus, Ohio, and on Aug. 15 in San Mateo, Calif. The panel includes Dr. Pamela Peeke, a physician, nutrition scientist and New York…
For some, certain foods like chocolate or chips have a strong attraction. So-called “chocoholics” talk about their affinity for chocolate in ways that incorporate terms usually reserved for addiction to drugs or alcohol. Those that believe that they really cannot eat just one potato chip may feel that this food has a particular hold on…
Dr. Pamela Peeke makes confronting our unhealthy habits positively funny and inspiring, as attendees recently learned at TEDx Wall Street. We often cope with challenges propped up by “false fixes” that flicker out fast, Peeke told the audience. “You know what I’m talking about … when things get a little tough out there, it’s usually…
Television ads don’t do the holidays justice when it comes to healthy eating at Thanksgiving – and Christmas and New Year’s. The image of a plump Thanksgiving turkey on a banquet table filled to overflowing may serve as a trigger to over-prepare high-fat, high-sugar foods and overeat at the table.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced steps that would ban trans fat, the unhealthy preservative in processed foods such as chips, crackers and microwave popcorn, effectively ridding it from the American food supply. Eliminating the ingredient, added to extend a product’s shelf life but packing the worst fat for heart health, is expected…